Program Contacts

Admission Requirements

Outlined below are the minimum admission requirements set forth by the School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies. Please review this information to ensure you are prepared with the knowledge necessary to succeed in your educational pursuits. Be sure to visit program-specific websites you are interested in applying to as each graduate program may have specific admissions requirements, including higher averages than the minimum.

Master’s Programs

Applicants must possess a four-year degree from an accredited university. The School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies requires at least a 70% average across courses taken in the last two full-time years of the undergraduate degree. Equivalent qualifications may be considered based on the standards of the discipline or profession.

Doctoral Programs

Applicants must possess a Master’s degree or equivalent from a university, college or institute, and provide evidence of research potential. The School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies requires at least a 70% average in the Master’s degree, as determined by the School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies.

English Language Proficiency

Applicants whose first language is not English must furnish evidence of their proficiency in the use of the English language by a satisfactory* achievement within the last two years in one of the following:

The Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). The minimum acceptable score is 86, with no individual score below 20 for the internet based version, or 550 for the paper and pencil version, although some programs require a higher minimum score. [Western's TOEFL ID is 0984].

The Michigan English Language Assessment Battery (MELAB) of the University of Michigan. Students must have at least 80 on each of the sections and an overall score of at least 85. Arrangements to write MELAB may be made online.

Western English Language Centre. The requirement is successful completion of the High-Advanced level. Click here for information regarding a conditional offer of admission, pending completion of Western English Language Centre's program.

CultureWorks. The requirement is successful completion of the High-Advanced level. Click here for information regarding a conditional offer of admission, pending CultureWorks completion.

*Programs at Western may require a higher minimum score than those listed above.

Students who are required to present evidence of proficiency in English must make their own arrangements to write the TOEFL, IELTS, MELAB or CAEL and to have the official results sent directly to the School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies by the testing agency. Those graduates from CultureWorks or Fanshawe College’s ESL Program must provide official proof of graduation.

Exemptions

Other formal evidence of graduate level proficiency in English may be considered in lieu of these test scores. Students must contact the graduate program(s) to which they have applied in order to determine if test scores will not be required. A decision will then be made at the discretion of the School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies for exemption. For the French and Spanish programs only, evidence of proficiency in English is a degree requirement but not a requirement for admission.